Many people are mystified by the aspects of successful wildlife
photography. But the skills needed to capture animals in their
environment are very basic and anyone can learn how to technically
achieve a beautiful wildlife portrait.

The San Francisco Zoo is one
the perfect places for us city dwellers to come and revel in the
beauty of wild animals, practice the technical skills, and come away
with some great images, all without having to make an arduous journey
to find these animals in the wild.

The Aperture Academy's Scott Donschikowski and Jean Day were lead
instructors on this absolutely gorgeous day in September. San
Francisco is known for its inclement weather, but today the skies
parted, the sun shone, and the temperature was perfect. Although you
would prefer the nice soft light that only a cloudy sky could provide,
the sunny weather provided an extra element to teach against, as
conditions when wildlife shooting aren't always perfect.

As per usual, we started with a round of introductions, to get everyone
acclimated to the group and to find out what our students specifically
wanted to work on or learn during the workshop, aside from setting up
the camera properly. After introductions and a brief overview of the
course of the day's events, we began our walk to the lions and tigers.

Scott and Jean spent time helping the students to properly setup
their cameras; correct ISO, aperture, shooting/drive/focusing modes
were all explained to ensure the students could be getting their perfect shots much easier.

After the lions and tigers, there was just enough time to make it to Grizzly Gulch and claim a spot in front, to capture two fully grown
brown bears as they took part in their morning feeding. What a show
these two bears put on! The zoo keepers hide food all around the
enclosure, and drop live fish in the pool that abuts the glass that our
group was eagerly waiting behind. Cameras all set for action, and
within about four seconds, these hungry bears came barreling out of
their enclosure into the gulch, splashing right into the water in
search of their live fish. We were all ready for them, snapping the moment, because as fast as it started, the main show
was over, with one bear grabbing both fish in a frenzy of pawing and
swimming.

After the brown bears found all their food, our group moved
on to the two bald eagles on the eagle island, and then continued to
grab some shots of the polar bears and then finally the two sea lions
before we needed a break to grab some food for ourselves.

After a short lunch break, Scott and Jean decided it was time to go
see some animals that closely resembled us, and they started with the
mandrill enclosure. These primates are extremely beautiful with their
elongated snouts, which are colored with hues of red and blue. There
are three mandrills at the San Francisco Zoo, one adult and two
juveniles, and the ApCad group spent some time finding interesting
compositions, intermixing them with the foliage in the enclosure to
find the best shots.

After the mandrills, the group headed to the
gorilla preserve, to see the famous silverback gorilla, Oscar Jonesy,
and the little boy, Hasani.

Like most wildlife photography sessions,
it's all about the wait. The gorillas proved to be lethargic and
hidden when the group arrived, but to be a successful wildlife
photographer, one needs perseverance. The group indeed persevered, and
was ecstatic to see Hasani playfully running around acting like most
human children do. It was also indeed great to see OJ the
silverback come out from the inside enclosure and pose for everyone to
watch.

With the flash cards filling up fast on the gorillas, it was time to move on, because Scott and Jean had one more spot to take the group before farewells. So, they made their way to the children's portion of the zoo, where some of the raptors
(predatory birds) were on close display.

There was a Eurasian Eagle Owl who was out and about on Hawk Hill. These birds are gigantic killers, weighing in at nine pounds and with wingspans
up to six feet! They have been known to kill anything up to and
including small deer! Athena, the owl in question, was up for feeding
at this particular hour, and our group of photogs captured every
crunch and bite of her meal of previously deceased mice. (Yuck!)

What an amazing day of imaging these unique animals we had. Our students may not have captured them in the wild, but they now possess the skills
to turn their cameras into wildlife capturing machines wherever they
may be in the future. Thanks to our students for a great day at the zoo!